History of Atrocities and Injustices Committed Towards Indigenous Peoples

There is an overall lack of trust by Indigenous Peoples in healthcare and fear that they will die in the public health care system. Indigenous Peoples, on numerous occasions, have died in the public healthcare system due to racism.

To paint a clearer picture of some of the origins of this distrust, let’s explore some of the horrific atrocities that have been committed towards Indigenous Peoples throughout history and also in modern day in North America.

Careless Deaths of Indigenous Peoples in the Healthcare System

In 2020, an Attikamekw woman named Joyce Echaquan who died while in hospital shortly after recording a video of herself on Facebook live where a hospital employee can be heard shouting racist slurs. She died of pulmonary edema, however hospital staff believed her to be experiencing withdrawal symptoms. It was later declared in a government report that her death was due to racism (Nerestant, 2021). Unfortunately, Indigenous Peoples dying in the public healthcare system due to negligence is not uncommon.

Video: Dying Indigenous Woman Records Slurs Uttered by Québec Hospital Staff

2:16

Please watch this first-hand experience of the racism Joyce Echaquan experienced.

Forced Sterilization of Indigenous Women

Canada has a history of forced sterilization of Indigenous women, often without their consent or agency. In the 1970s, there were about 1200 known cases of Indigenous women being sterilized as a government policy to control Indigenous population sizes (Collier, 2017).

Video: Indigenous Women in Canada are Still Forcibly Sterilised – Report

2:16

Forced sterilization of Indigenous Women supposedly ended in the 1970s, however there continues to be reports (even today) of women accessing healthcare for one issue, then finding out after care or many years later that they were made infertile without their consent.

Residential School System

One of the more well-known systems that the Government of Canada used to commit cultural genocide was Residential Schools. These schools ran across the country beginning in the late 1800s until 1996 when the last school closed. Indigenous Children ranging from 4-18 years old were subject to emotional, sexual, physical, spiritual abuse.

Video: Namwayut: we are all one. Truth and reconciliation in Canada

4:20

Robert Joseph, O.B.C., Hereditary Chief of the Gwawaenuk Peoples, shares his experiences attending residential schools in this animated video.

Video: Death at Residential Schools

8:09

Many Indigenous Children died in these schools, which has been reported by survivors for decades. It was only until recently that survivors were believed about the number of children who had died or been killed at these schools. More than 3000 unmarked graves have been discovered so far. In this video, you will learn more about the search for these unmarked graves.

Learn More

The University of Windsor developed this tool that maps the story of residential schools across Canada as well the graves discovered up until the creation of the tool.

The 60s Scoop

Beginning in the 1960s, there was a mass removal and drastic overrepresentation of Indigenous Children from their families and communities into the foster care system. In 1951, only 29 Indigenous Children were in the foster care system in British Columbia, making up only 1% of all children in the system. By 1964, this number increased dramatically to 1,466 Indigenous Children, making up 34% of all children in the system.

The term ‘scooping’ comes from the practice of government social workers taking/snatching babies who were recently born from their mothers on reserves.

Children typically were given to middle-class Euro-Canadian families. The vast majority of social workers knew nothing about Indigenous culture or communities and had a Western view on what constitutes “proper child care”.

Physical and sexual abuse were not uncommon in the system.

Quick Facts

As you can see from the graph above, Indigenous Children only made up about 1% of the children in foster care. In the 1960s, Indigenous Children made up 34%. By the 1970s, Indigdenous children consistently made up at least one third of the total number of children in the system.

In the 1980s, the Government of Canada amended legislation to ensure that Indigenous children would first stay with extended family. If this was not possible, they would be given to another Indigenous family. If not possible, they would be given to a non-Indigenous family. In the 1990s, the Government of Canada created the First Nations Child and Family Services program which gave First Nations band the power to administer this program.

Video: Adoptees of Sixties Scoop Tell Their Stories

4:54

In this video, we’ll hear from Duane Morrisseau-Beck, Colleen Cardinal, Leslie Noganosh, Shaun Ladue and Tealey Normandin who are survivors of the 60s Scoop and the impact it had on them.

Video: Why Indigenous Children are Overrepresented in Canada’s Foster Care System

6:11

While the 60s Scoop is often discussed as an event of the past, this overrepresentation continues today. While the video references 2017 census data, in 2021, 53.8% of the children in foster care were indigenous – suggesting this overrepresentation persists.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Across the United States and Canada, Indigenous Women and Girls have gone missing by the hundreds each year. Despite the fact that Indigenous women represent only 5% of the women in this country, they make up 10% of the total population of missing and murdered women (StatsCan, 2017).

Video: Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women Day

8:30

This video was made to commemorate Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Day () which seeks to bring awareness to the growing number of Indigenous Women and Girls who continue to go missing without any significant police investigation.

Question

What is Canada doing to rectify the harms it has committed and continues to commit against Indigenous Peoples and repair the relationship?

While there is still much progress to be made, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in 2007 and until 2015, they travelled across Canada collecting stories from victims of residential schools. The Commission provided a space for Indigenous Peoples and their families to begin the healing process and share their stories in an effort to effect change in Canada. When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded, they proposed 94 Calls to Action for the provincial, territorial, and federal governments to implement as a commitment to truth and reconciliation. Calls to action #18 to #24 are specifically related to health.

You’re encouraged to read more below. Even if you don’t live in Canada or the United States, consider how these calls to action may be applicable to marginalized populations in your country.

In the case of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the government has been heavily criticized for taking little to no action to search for these missing persons (Deer, 2022).

References

Boyer, Y., & Bartlett, J. (2017, July 22). Tubal Ligation in the Saskatoon Health Region: The Lived Experience of Aboriginal Women. Saskatoon Health Region.

Collier R. (2017). Reports of coerced sterilization of Indigenous women in Canada mirrors shameful past. Canadian Medical Association journal, 189(33), E1080–E1081.

Deer, K. (2022, June 3). 'A national shame,' say advocates about lack of progress on MMIWG action plan. CBC News.

Department of Justice (2017, July). Missing and murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Government of Canada.

Eberts, M., Stanton, K., & Koerner Yeo, L. (2020, July 28). RCMP must acknowledge the force’s racist underpinnings. Policy Options.

Hanson, E. (2009). Sixties Scoop. Indigenous Foundations UBC.

Hobson, B. (2022, September 21). More than half the children in care are Indigenous, census data suggests. The Canadian Press.

Morin, B. (2020). As the RCMP deny systemic racism, here’s the real history. Toronto Star.

Needham, F. (2022, September 21). 'The bond is broken': Data shows number of Indigenous kids in foster care is going up: StatCan. The Canadian Press.

Nerestant, A. (2021, October 5). If Joyce Echaquan were white, she would still be alive, Quebec coroner says. CBC News.

StatisticsCanada (2022). Indigenous population continues to grow and much younger than the non-Indigenous population, although the pace of growth has slowed. Government of Canada.